Shabazz Napier to Magic: Latest Trade Details, Comments and Reaction

A year ago, the Miami Heat drafted Shabazz Napier in part to entice LeBron James to stay in Miami. With franchise point guard Goran Dragic locked up for the next five years, the Heat have traded Napier to the Orlando Magic in exchange for a protected second-round pick. 

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports first reported the deal, while Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today reported that the second-round pick is protected from Nos. 31-55. The Heat confirmed the deal on Monday.

Napier, 24, averaged 5.1 points and 2.5 assists per game during his rookie season. He struggled at times with his shot-making, knocking down just 38.2 percent of his field-goal attempts. The arrival of Dragic at the trade deadline reduced his playing time, and a sports hernia injury eventually ended his season early. 

Rumors began floating in early July that Miami would be willing to move on from Napier, mostly because of its point guard depth and tax situation. The Heat will have to shave a little more than $10 million from their current cap sheet by the end of the season to get under the luxury tax.

While Napier's rookie contract is one of the cheapest on the roster, it was far more movable than the more than $4 million attached to Mario Chalmers.     

"A general manager with another NBA team told me Mario Chalmers and Shabazz Napier are the players the Heat has been most aggressive in shopping, with Miami preferring to move Chalmers because of his $4.3 million salary," Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald wrote in July.

The Heat will still likely try moving Chalmers during the regular season and may focus their efforts more on shedding Chris Andersen's contract. It's an uphill battle for them to duck under the tax, but they'll at the very least look to reduce their bill. 

Adding Napier comes with an almost nonexistent risk here for Orlando. While he was well short of brilliant as a rookie, Napier still has intriguing off-the-dribble creation skills and plays with a high motor. He needs to tone down his tendency to dribble aimlessly—48.7 percent of his shots last season came after two or more dribbles—but Napier has the tools to become a serviceable backup guard.

Defense will need to be a consistent area of improvement. Opponents shot 6.6 percent better than their regular-season averages when Napier defended them. His size (6'1") was a real problem when opposing players made their way deep into the paint, as they hit 53.5 percent of their looks inside 10 feet. But Napier flashed some real strides in the Las Vegas summer league on both ends of the floor. 

"Now it's just continue to get better," Napier said, via the Sun Sentinel's Ira Winderman. "This is a new learning experience for me. I'm going to continue to increase my knowledge. At the end of the day, summer league is to help you out and I want to continue to grow, continue to get as better as I possibly could."

Orlando will hope those improvements carry over into next season. But even if they don't, this is a situation where an asset was available for little in return. These are the types of moves smart front offices make all the time.

Follow Tyler Conway (@tylerconway22) on Twitter.